Attack on Titan AU - That Day
by TophTheMelonLord
Summary: Hello all! This is obviously mr first story on , and it's my first Fanfic on Shingeki no Kyojin, so please tell me what you think! :3


Kalura rolled her eyes as Eren stomped out of the house with Mikasa, her adoptive daughter, trailing behind him.

"Such a temper," she sighed, but smiled as she looked out the kitchen window and watched them run into town. "But such determination." Her Eren had always been that way, hot headed with such fire in his eyes. There was no stopping him when he was set to do something. And that fact made their previous argument scare her out of her wits

Dragging a towel over the last plate in the sink, she ran her fingers through dark hair and set it down on top of the other four, neatly stacked in the chestnut colored cabinet.

Not that Eren and Mikasa were necessarily loud children, but the silence that companied her in the empty house was refreshing, and she took advantage of it while she could.

She lounged back into the kitchen chair with a small, content smile on her lips, eyelids fluttering closed as her breathing became more heavy. Images came flooding into her mind, blurry at first, but focused as she imagined her son running gleefully through their front yard. He was laughing, and looking behind him every few steps. He was being chased by Grisha, who shared Eren's joyful smile, and broke into a laugh as he scooped their green-eyed son into his arms. Kalura sat in the shade with a book in hand, giggling at their interaction. It may not have been the perfect life, living inside the walls, occasionally scrounging for food, but having a family, at least, provided her with a sense of hope, however small it was.

A loud, growling rumble startled Kalura out of her slumber, and she rushed outside to look around for dark clouds. "Clear skies," she mumbled, confused by what could be causing the rumbling. Then, at a million miles an hour, the realization hit her. _The wall had been breached._ In a panic, she darted out of her house and into the street, panic in her light brown eyes. "Eren! Mikasa!" she called, and found herself standing frozen. She didn't acknowledge the scrummaging people, the bumps, shoves and curses from the townspeople so desperately trying to get away.

Where were Eren and Mikasa? Were they near the wall, somewhere with Armin? Gathering more wood, chatting (most likely, for Eren, yelling) with those of the Military Guard? Were the safe? Were they even a_live?_ The mere thought of otherwise made her nauseous, but she was snapped out of that state when a stomping came from behind her, and a shrill, feminine scream resonated through her ears. "Please, no, put me down! Put me down, put me down!" the woman pleaded, whose resumed screams died as she was taken into the Titan's mouth. Her mouth fell agape and she ran through the townspeople to a shorter route to get to the town.

"Eren, Mikasa, please be safe." And what of Grisha? Where was he? Somewhere beyond the wall? He had to be alive, they all had to be alive, there was no way any of them, the only family she had left, were dead. The titan, having swallowed the shrieking woman from before, continued through the large crown of people. Kalura's blood drained from her face as the shadow of a hand overcast her and a few other people, and the sweat poured down her cheeks like hot rain. She gasped as large, pink fingers swept past her legs and looped around the man directly to her right. It surprised her to feel a tugging on her hair and she mindlessly turned around to come face-to-face the man in the titan's grasp. He seemed to be in his mid-forties, thin greying hair protruding from his scalp, and wrinkles cut into his cheeks and forehead. He had blue eyes bushy black eyebrows, face was wet with hysteric tears and hand full of Kalura's loosening ponytail, though his rough grasp offered no resistance to the frowning titan, and the poor man's screams ceased as the titan bit into his abdomen. Kalura felt guilty for having felt relief that the titan didn't grab her, and she shivered. That man's horrified expression would forever be carved into her memory. She shook the thought. and remembered the task at hand. She needed to find them. Eren. Mikasa.

"Eren! Mikasa!" she called again. She was answered only by the screams and cries of her peers, and the pounding of footsteps, some faster and others slower than her own. Some even tripped, and screeched as they were trampled. That was the reality of things, and it disgusted Kalura to her very core. People were willing to sacrifice their humanity to save themselves, even if their sacrifice was temporary, all because of fear of the titans. How could she blame them, though? Being on the brink of extinction was terrifying in itself, and adding to it… It was unthinkable. Turning a sharp corner that only served as a use to herself and 3 other citizens, Kalura maintained her speed, and desperately looked at the faces of the rummaging crowds. She'd recognize those little green eyes anywhere she saw them. It wasn't until then she came to her senses and remembered her and Eren's conversation, not but a few months ago.

"I hate living here!" Eren angrily said, and pushed his soup away with disgust.

"Eren."

"I wanna see the real world, mom! Armin talks about it all the time, he always says that there are beautiful forests, rocks with snow on top, so big it takes days to climb them! And giant masses of water with salt called… Uhh…" Eren looked down and bit his lip as he searched for the word, before Mikasa chimed in, staring nonchalantly at the table. "The sea." She slid the full spoon into her mouth and swallowed. "He said it was called the sea." Eren grinned and nodded with agreement. "Yeah, the sea! I want to live in the _real_ world, where you wake up next to things like the sea, and the really big rocks!" Eren's excitement simmered and he looked down with a scowl, flicking his spoon away with his finger. "Somewhere we can actually can home, and where we aren't guarded by giant walls."

"Eren," Kalura repeated, and set the spoon back down in front of him after gently patting his cheek. "The walls are meant to protect us, you know that. This _is_ home, where your family is. Where your father and I are, where Mikasa is. What Armin talks about is a world we'll see when the time comes."

The green-eyed boy pouted and leaned against his palms, mumbling something Kalura couldn't quite make out.

"For now," she began, and took her place across from him at the table, craning her neck with a smile on her lips to meet Eren's eyes. "Consider this home. Where your family is."

Staring at her, the boy sighed and nodded, picking up the silver spoon and swallowing every bit of it. "I will see it," he said through a mouthful of bread. "Someday."

Without a second thought, Kalura pivoted and sprinted in the direction opposite of the crowd, pushing through the mass of people. She ignored the several comments she received as she shoved her way through. "What the hell are you doing?!" "Are you suicidal?!" "That titan is back there! "What a fool!" But wherever Eren needed her was where Kalura was determined to be.

To her relief, the titan had left their area, but their home was in pieces, and the two she had most wanted to see in the world were nowhere to be found. Gray stone piled on top of grey stone, and she could see bits of her freshly cleaned, and now, broken plates, pieces shattered under what used to be her ceiling. "They'll come," she whispered, though she wasn't really sure who she was talking to. Perhaps herself to bring forth comfort, or a Grisha that she knew couldn't hear her reassuring promise. She fell to her knees in the dirt and stared at the world she lived in. Demolished homes left to right, screams and pleas and cries from every direction. She hoped the world Eren had been talking about truly did exist. "Heaven in Hell," she so often described it. It always earned a huff from Grisha. "A dream," he would counter, then return to whatever he was reading. She was dazed, staring into the debris, so dazed that she thought what she saw _was_ a dream. A pair of frantic, teary green eyes ran towards her, and a shrill voice that shrieked her name, and another pair of grey ones that matched the first.

"Mom!" Eren called, and nearly knocked her over as he jumped into her arms. Mikasa joined him on Kalura's left side before the current situation finally clicked, and joyful tears stinged her eyes. "Eren… Mikasa…" Her voice was barely a whisper and she held them both, patting their heads as hot tears streamed down her face. She never realized how much she doubted their survival, how little faith this world had given her. She smiled and kissed the pair on their foreheads repeatedly, happy she could feel each of them enveloped in her. "Thank God," she sobbed, and sat for a few more seconds, before standing up and looking down at them. "We have to go. Head to the boats on the other side of the village, across from the markets. That's where the boats will be." Eren nodded, and began to take off before the dreaded sound of a bulky footstep stopped the trio in their tracks. Behind them was a titan that stood bent at the waist and looked down at them with a tilt of his head. The rumble caused a piece of debris, an old, hefty support beam from their neighbor's home, to collapse right on top of Mikasa. She landed with a rough oof and stared at horror at the grinning titan, which, for some reason, hadn't yet made its move.

"Eren! Get to the boats, I'll take care of Mikasa and we'll catch up!"

"I'm not leaving you guys!"

"Eren, GO!"

"I'm not going anywh-"

"FOR GOD SAKES, EREN, PLEASE, JUST LISTEN TO ME THIS ONCE AND RUN!" Before even giving him the chance to retaliate, Kalura turned around and tried desperately to lift to rafter off of Mikasa. She tried and tried with every ounce of her strength to pick up the support beam, but helplessly failed, despite the desperate, determined look in her irises. But the minute she looked up, they brightened with a hope she'd never felt before.

"Hannes, please, help me life this off of her!" she pleaded, and Hannes, with a nod, worked with the strong-willed Kalura to lift the beam off of the girl. She weakly crawled from her crushed position was scooped up by Hannes, who was ready to run off and head for the boats before an ear-piercing shriek filled his ears. The three of them turned around, in horror, to see the young Eren firmly held in the grasp of the grinning Titan.

"MOM!" he cried, and reached out to her before the Titan stood from its bent over position and slowly brought its hand closer and closer to its unforgiving jaws.

"NO! EREN!" Kalura was on her feet that instant, and about to dart off in Eren's direction before she felt a rough, callused hand wrap around her wrist. She turned around and glared at the soldier, wordlessly denying him of his request.

"There's no chance for him, Kalura, he's already gone!" he shouted. Mikasa stared, frozen, with her hand over her mouth and tears flowing freely down her smooth cheeks. She had an undying grasp on the red scarf that looped around her neck that tightened with every inch Eren got closer to the grinning Titan. "Eren…" she squeaked, and winced from the sobs that shook her body and cracked ribs.

"MOM! MIKASA! HANNES! SOMEBODY, PLEASE!"

"_Why can't I move?" _

"PUT ME DOWN! I DON'T WANT TO DIE, PLEASE!"

_"What's wrong with me?"_

"I DON'T WANT TO GO!"

Grunting, Hannes threw the still-standing Kalura over his shoulder with sweat on his brow.

"_Eren…"_


End file.
